In this article, we will look into 70+ most frequently asked questions about the Sun which is the only star in our Solar System. Sun is not just a star but the energy source and driving force of our planet. Without it, life on earth will struggle to survive.

The sun is also responsible for keeping the planets in our Solar System into an orbit around it hence preventing it from floating out free in the space. Apart from this, Sun also drives weather, ocean currents, seasons, and climate, and makes plant life possible through photosynthesis. While there are many questions about the origin, existence and role of our only star, we will see some of the most frequently asked one in below section.

70+ Most Frequently Asked Questions About The Sun

Also Read: 200+ Important Discoveries Questions and Answers for All Exams

1. What is the Sun ?

Ans. The Sun is a huge spinning, glowing star at the center of our Solar System. It radiates heat and light as a result of Nuclear Fusion reaction.

2. What color is the Sun ?

Ans. The color of the sun is white.

3. How many earths can fit in the Sun ?

Ans. About one million Earths could fit inside the sun.

4. How old is the Sun ?

Ans. Our Sun is 4,500,000,000 years old.

5. How far is the Sun from Earth ?

Ans. Earth's average distance to the Sun is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the Sun.

6. What is the Sun made of ?

Ans. The Sun is composed of layers made up almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.

7. When will the Sun explode ?

Ans. Astronomers estimate that the sun has about 7 billion to 8 billion years left before it sputters out and dies.

8. How far away is the Sun from the Moon ?

Ans. The Sun, on average, is about 150 million kilometers away from the Moon.

9. How far away is the Sun from the Mars ?

Ans. The average distance between Mars and the Sun is 142 million miles (228 million kilometers).

10. How far away is the Sun from the Jupiter ?

Ans. Jupiter's distance from the Sun ranges from 460 million miles (741 million km) to 508 million miles (817 million km).

11. How far away is the Sun from the Mercury ?

Ans. Mercury's distance from the Sun ranges from 28.6 million miles (46 million km) to 43.4 million miles (69.8 million km).

12. How big is the Sun ?

Ans. The Sun is 864,400 miles (1,391,000 kilometers) across. It is 109 times wider than Earth, and it accounts for more than 99.8 percent of the solar system's total mass.

13. How big is the Sun compared to Moon ?

Ans. The Sun's diameter is about 400 times larger than that of the Moon.

14. How big is the Sun compared to Jupiter ?

Ans. The Sun's diameter is about 10 times larger than that of the Jupiter.

15. What planet is closest to the Sun ?

Ans. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun

16. What vitamin comes from the Sun ?

Ans. Vitamin D

17. When will the Sun die ?

Ans. At the age of 1011 billion years, the Sun will reach the end of its life.

18. Where does the Sun set ?

Ans. Sun always sets in the West.

19. How bright is the Sun in Watts ?

Ans. The luminosity of the Sun is 3.846 × 1026 watts (or 3.846 × 1033 ergs per second).

20. How hot is the Sun ?

Ans. The temperature at the surface of the Sun is about 10,000 Fahrenheit (5,600 Celsius).

21. What type of star is the Sun ?

Ans. The Sun is known as a yellow dwarf star.

22. What direction does the Sun rise ?

Ans. Sun always rises in the East.

23. What would happen if the Sun exploded ?

Ans. If the sun explode tomorrow, the shockwave generated from the explosion would not be strong enough to destroy the planet but the side facing the sun at that time would boil away instantly. The rest of the part would be 15 times hotter than the sun's current surface temperature and also cause the permanent darkness. The sun's mass is currently keeping the earth in an orbit around it but without its mass the planet would start floating off into space. In the mean while, the inhabitants of the planet would definitely struggle to survive.

24. Why is the Sun red at sunrise and sunset ?

Ans. The sun is red at sunrise and sunset due to scattering of light by the atmospheric particles. During the sunrise and sunset light has to travel through a thick layer of atmosphere causing maximum scattering of shorter wavelengths light and least scattering of longer wavelengths one. Hence red color which is having longest wavelength are much intense during the sunrise and sunset.

25. Is lightning hotter than the Sun surface ?

Ans. Lightning is about 25,000 degrees Celsius, which is roughly five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

26. Does the Earth revolve around the Sun ?

Ans. Yes, Earth revolves in orbit around the sun in 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes.

27. Does the Earth revolve around the Sun clockwise or counterclockwise ?

Ans. Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere.

28. How far is mercury from the Sun ?

Ans. Mercury's distance from the Sun ranges from 28.6 million miles (46 million km) to 43.4 million miles (69.8 million km).

29. How long is the Sun expected to remain stable ?

Ans. According to few studies, the Sun is expected to remain stable for the next 5 billion years.

30. What is the temperature of the Sun at its core ?

Ans. The temperature in the Sun's core is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius) .

31. What is the temperature of the Sun at its surface ?

Ans. The temperature at the surface of the Sun is about 10,000 Fahrenheit (5,600 Celsius).

32. What planet is the farthest from the Sun in our Solar System ?

Ans. Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun in our Solar System.

33. What planet is the farthest from the Sun in our Galaxy ?

Ans. As of now Neptune is known as the farthest planet from the sun in our Solar System as well as in our Galaxy, the Milky Way.

34. How does the Sun produce energy ?

Ans. Solar energy is created by nuclear fusion that takes place in the sun. Fusion occurs when protons of hydrogen atoms violently collide in the sun's core and fuse to create a helium atom. This process, known as a PP (proton-proton) chain reaction, emits an enormous amount of energy.

35. How long does it take earth to orbit the Sun ? 

Ans. Earth takes about 365 days to orbit the sun.

36. How long would it take to get to the Sun ?

Ans. A spacecraft traveling approximately 36,000 miles an hour (58,000 km an hour) would take slightly over 100 days to reach the Sun from Earth.

37. How far is Neptune from the Sun ?

Ans. The average distance of Neptune from the Sun is 2,795,084,800 miles or 4,498,252,900 kilometers.

38. How far is Pluto from the Sun ?

Ans. Pluto's average distance from the Sun is 3,670,050,000 miles (5,906,380,000 kilometers).

39. How far is Saturn from the Sun ?

Ans. The average distance from Saturn to the Sun is 886 million miles or 9.5 AUs.

40. How far is Venus from the Sun ?

Ans. The average distance of Venus from the Sun is 67,237,910 miles or 108,208,930 km.

41. How far is Mercury from the Sun ?  

Ans. The average distance from the Sun to Mercury is roughly 58,000,000 km (35,000,000 miles) or 0.4 AU.

42. How long does it take Pluto to orbit the Sun ?

Ans. It takes Pluto 248.09 Earth years to complete one orbit around the sun.

43. How many Jupiters can fit in the Sun ?

Ans. Around 1,000 Jupiters could fit into the Sun.

44. How much does the Sun weigh ?

Ans. The mass of the sun is 1.989 x 10^30 kilograms.

45. How was the Sun formed ?

Ans. The Sun formed about 4.6 billion years ago in a giant, spinning cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. As the nebula collapsed under its own gravity, it spun faster and flattened into a disk. Most of the nebula's material was pulled toward the center to form our Sun, which accounts for 99.8% of our solar system’s mass. Much of the remaining material formed the planets and other objects that now orbit the Sun. (The rest of the leftover gas and dust was blown away by the young Sun's early solar wind.) More on NASA official website.

46. What is the diameter of the Sun ?

Ans. The sun has a diameter of 865,000 miles or 1.39 million kilometers. Its diameter is 109 times the diameter of earth.

47. What is the Sun made out of ?

Ans. The sun is composed of layers made up almost entirely of hydrogen(74.9%) and helium(23.8%).

48. How does the Sun burn without oxygen ?

Ans. The burning in the Sun is not due to oxygen but it is due to Nuclear fusion process which uses hydrogen as fuel. The chain reaction creates intense amount of heat and temperature.

49. How far is Uranus from the Sun ?

Ans. Uranus is an average distance of 1,783,939,400 miles or 2,870,972,200 kilometers from the Sun.

50. How fast does earth orbit Sun ?

Ans. The orbital speed of the Earth around the Sun is about 67,000 mph(30 km/s).

51. How long does it take Uranus to orbit the Sun ?

Ans. Uranus revolves or orbits around the Sun once every 84 Earth years.

52. When is the earth the closest to the Sun ?

Ans. Earth is closest to the sun every year in early January, when it's winter for the Northern Hemisphere.

53. What is the corona of the Sun ?

Ans. The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere where strong magnetic fields bind plasma and prevent turbulent solar winds from escaping.

54. When is the Sun the strongest in a day ?

Ans. The sun's rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

55. Is the earth getting closer to the Sun ?

Ans. No, Actually the sun is getting farther away from Earth over time.

56. What color is the Sun in space ?

Ans. The color of the sun is white.

57. How close can you get to the Sun ?

Ans. According to few studies, astronauts can fly within 1.3 million miles of the Sun considering the shielding remains intact. Recently sent Parker probe flew within 4.3 million miles of the Sun.

58. How bright is the Sun in Lumens ?

Ans. The Sun provides about 98,000 lux (lumens per square meter), upon a horizontal surface, at sea level.

59. How long does it take Venus to orbit the Sun ?

Ans. Venus revolves or orbits around the Sun once every 0.615 Earth years, or once every 224.7 Earth days.

60. What is the third planet from the Sun ?

Ans. Earth, our home planet, is the third planet from the sun.

61. What month is the earth closest to the Sun ?

Ans. Earth is closest to the Sun in the month of January.

62. How fast is the Sun moving through the milky way ?

Ans. Our sun moves at about about 500,000 miles an hour (800,000 km/hr) in a huge orbit in the Milky Way.

63. How hot is the center of the Sun ?

Ans. The temperature in the Sun's core is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius)

64. How long does it take Jupiter to orbit the Sun ?

Ans. Jupiter revolves or orbits around the Sun once every 11.86 Earth years.

65. How long does it take Neptune to orbit the Sun ?

Ans. Neptune makes a complete orbit around the Sun (a year in Neptunian time) in about 165 Earth years.

66. How many Suns are in the milky way galaxy ?

Ans. The Milky Way has an estimated 100-400 billion suns.

67. How many Suns are in the universe ?

Ans. Astronomers have discovered 2500 so far, but there are likely to be many more in the Universe. There are an estimated 100 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone.

68. Is the Sun getting hotter ?

Ans. The Sun is becoming increasingly hotter (or more luminous) with time. However, the rate of change is so slight we won't notice anything even over many millennia.

69. What is the closest star to the Sun ?

Ans. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun, lying just over four light-years away.

70. What is a Sunspot ?

Ans. Sunspots are dark phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas.

71. Who proposed a Sun centered solar system ?

Ans. The Copernican heliocentric model proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus was the first widely accepted idea that the sun was the center of the solar system.

72. What month is the earth farthest from the Sun ?

Ans. Earth is farthest from the sun in the month of July.